updated 06:42 am EST, Tue January 29, 2013

Microsoft Office 2013 available in native install or in the cloud

Microsoft Office 2013 is now available for purchase. As with previous versions, there are three major editions along with the ability for customers to purchase individual applications. A cloud-based subscription version of Office 365 is also now on sale, with the Home Premium version priced at either $100 for 12 months or $10 per month.

The subscription model reduces the upfront cost of Office, while also guaranteeing users access the each new version in the future. Users who opt for the subscription model will also have the ability to access Office 365 on up to five PCs or Macs. It also comes with 20GB of SkyDrive storage and 60 minutes of Skype calls per month.

Standard native installations are available for use on a single PC. Office Home & Student 2013 is retailing for $140, Office Home & Business 2013 is retailing for $220, while Office Professional 2013 is available for $400. Each version comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, while the more expensive versions include enterprise apps with Outlook, Publisher and Access among them. There is no native install available for Mac users at present.

Both of you are correct but it would have been nice if the title of this story simply added "for Windows" to the end. Other sites are carrying this news and not making the reader instantly aware of the fact it's only for Windows. Office 365 is not Office 2013 and could be included in a very short separate article.

Agree...

hayesk's last point is quite right...the web page on Office 2013/365 is so confusing and cluttered. It's hard to tell what you get and who is able to get it! This is the capital U in the classic Microsoft FUD.

Bottom line for Mac users is that you get nothing more than you already do with Office 2011 for Mac...no Access, no Publisher or not even Outlook in 365 (but again, a misdirect by MS in that Hotmail is now called Outlook). In fact, if you go through the subscription 30-day trial sign up process, you end with a download link to Mac Office 2011 30-day demo.

However, Office 365 does give you the cloud-based access to Word, Excel and PowerPoint. In addition, it allows you to edit documents on 365 within your desktop versions and then reload the changed docs back into 365 automatically. Plus you get 20Gb of cloud Skydrive space and 30 min/month of Skype calls. So for $100, this would be a good deal if that's what you need.